


Nightmares

by writemydreams



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Bruce Wayne is a Good Dad, Gen, Nightmares, No Romance, Platonic Cuddling, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-26 16:40:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12062955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writemydreams/pseuds/writemydreams
Summary: Whenever Dick has a nightmare, the safest place to go is Bruce's arms.





	Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the Batfam Content War challenge going around on Tumblr. I started this back in March and never got around to posting it. I revised it to make Dick younger (he was seventeen before, but I didn't want to accidentally promote a relationship between the two when I wanted to write a father + son relationship.)

Bruce woke from a sound sleep as he felt the mattress dip. One eye cracked open to catch a glimpse of a pale face and wide, blue eyes under a curtain of messy hair. Dick. “S’matter?” he murmured.

“Had a nightmare,” Dick whispered. “Can I stay with you tonight?”

Bruce pulled back the covers. “Get in.” He moved to the side so Dick could settle into bed. He draped the sheets and quilt over them again. Comforting his thirteen-year-old son after a nightmare was still challenging. He always wrestled with asking Dick about the nightmare or waiting to see if he would bring it up, if he wanted to discuss the dream at all. The boy shivered, prompting Bruce to wrap his arms around his shoulders and draw him close. “What was your dream?”

Dick clutched his sleep shirt. “You were f-falling.” His voice cracked and he shut his eyes, shivering again.

Bruce rubbed Dick’s side. “I haven’t fallen. I’m safe in bed and so are you.” He yawned and laid his head back on the pillow. “Go back to sleep. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”

“Night.”

“Good night.” Bruce closed his eyes. Dick joining him in bed had become almost ritual ever since he took in the boy. At first, it’d been loneliness. Wayne Manor was too big, too empty for a child who’d grown up in the circus. Then the nightmares began to haunt him. Seeing his parents fall, losing Bruce or Alfred. Becoming Robin provided additional nightmare fodder for him. For both of them.

Bruce was starting to drift off when Dick shifted into a more comfortable position. He burrowed against Bruce’s side, seeking protection from the demons haunting his dreams. He kept his arm around his son. Whether he was Batman or Bruce Wayne, he would always be there to protect Dick.

 

Knocking dragged Bruce out of his slumber. “Master Bruce?” Alfred called. “I’ve prepared breakfast and have the day’s mail. Breakfast is sliced oranges, coffee, and a ham and mushroom omelette. May I come in?”

Bruce rubbed his sleep-crusted eyes. “Yes.” The warmth of the covers and the boy at his side made him want to go back to sleep. To ignore the day’s responsibilities – especially preparing for the gala he was attending tonight. Bruce glanced down at the still sleeping Dick who was wrapped around him like a human octopus. His head lay on the pillow above Bruce’s shoulder, leg thrown over his, with an arm across his chest.

The door opened, and Alfred walked in. He paused as he caught sight of Bruce and Dick together. “Shall I prepare an additional portion of breakfast, sir?”

Bruce ran his fingers through Dick’s hair. “I imagine he would appreciate that.” What fourteen-year-old boy didn’t like waking up to a full breakfast?

Alfred placed the breakfast tray on the bedside table. “I will begin so at once.”

“Thanks, Alfred.” Bruce waited until his butler and oldest friend had left the room before he gently shook Dick awake. Much as he wanted to let him sleep longer and even join him in dreamland again, there was work to do.

**_Another Night, Another Nightmare_ **

Dick sat bolt upright in bed. His skin was drenched in a cold sweat and he couldn’t stop shaking. He fought to regulate his breathing. Batman and Robin had discovered the lair of a particularly gruesome serial killer earlier tonight. Riding back to the manor, Dick had predicted the horrors would appear in his nightmares tonight. He hadn’t been wrong. Ugh, he really should’ve just slept in Bruce’s room. Going to his own had been a stupid idea.

Dick kicked the covers off so he could go to Bruce. Sunlight shone through the small crack in the curtains. That and the faint illumination from the digital clock at Bruce’s bedside provided enough light for him to see by. Bruce was asleep on his stomach with his arm stretched across the side of the bed Dick slept on. A small smile formed on Dick’s lips despite the stress of the dream. Maybe Bruce needed him too. Dick climbed onto the bed, grasping Bruce’s hand and lifting his arm so he could settle beneath the covers.

“…Dick?”

“Nightmares again.” Dick bit his lip as he laid his head on the pillow. He could still see the killer’s lair so clearly.

Bruce rolled over onto his side to draw him into his arms. He would never be as open with his feelings as Dick’s parents had been. Moments like these showed Dick just how much he meant to Bruce. “Me too, kid. Me too.” He pressed Dick closer and dropped his face to pillow in the boy’s hair. One of Bruce’s hands rubbed Dick’s back in slow, comforting circles as they gradually lulled each other back to sleep.


End file.
